Shared Spaces: Frost Wind Ensemble

Contemporary wind music explores the shifting relationship between soloist and ensemble in a program featuring percussionist Svetoslav Stoyanov at UM Gusman Concert Hall. Presented Sunday, October 4, as part of Frost Music Live’s 2026-2027 season, the concert pairs Mason Bates’ Sideman with the world premiere of James David’s Concerto for Wind Ensemble.

In Sideman, Bates rethinks the traditional concerto format by allowing the percussion soloist to move between leading, blending with and responding to the ensemble. Stoyanov brings a virtuosic role to the work’s rhythmic drive and changing layers of acoustic color.

James David’s new concerto expands that dialogue across the wind ensemble itself, allowing individual voices to emerge from and recede into the larger group. Together, the two works consider collaboration, individuality and the evolving possibilities of contemporary large-ensemble music.